It is not known who the first pastor of this church was, but
from family records the establishment of the church in Dancyville dates back to the
1800s, and was located south of here, about ½ mile in the field. Our
records show that in the year 1905, this land was sold to the Trustees of Dancyville
Colored M. E. Church; Dave Archibald, Green Douglass and John Shaw, by F. R. Jones
and wife A. O. Jones. On March 17, 1925, the present site was purchased from the same Mr.
& Mrs. Jones for One Hundred Fifty ($150.00) dollars by Trustees; Jack Ragland, Jesse
Hobson, George Douglass, J. W. Thomas, and Cherry Jones. It was a frame building with very
few facilities, no electricity, no water, and the pews and other furnishings were made by
its members, of rough but freshly cut oak. One wood heater, heated the building in
winter, and card board cut from a box was our air during the summer. For night services,
lamps (kerosene) were used to give us light.

With the members' sincerity of purpose, the warmth of their
motives, the co-operation and strength of their support and the help of God, the frame
structure was changed to a beautiful brick structure in 1957. Rev. James Boyland was
our pastor and Bro. Robert Ballard was chairman of the Steward Board. Many facilities were
left off, however, with no running water or other modern facilities, and the same
home-made pews.

In 1975, running water and restrooms were added, along with
a cold-water fountain. Rev. Dan C. Adams was pastor and Bro. C. D. Archibald was Chairman
of the Steward Board. In 1980, Dr. J. Bobby Cole was sent to us as pastor, he saw the need
for improvement, and immediately went to work to improve our present building. We
purchased new pews, and pulpit furniture, he also saw the need for additional space, and
under his leadership a cafeteria and educational building was started which is in our
plans to complete. Gravel was spread to improve our parking area.

In 1984, Rev. L. H. Oliver came to us and is still serving
as pastor; he is working hard to keep Dancyville on the move. Bro. Hazel Boyd served on an
improvement committee as chairman to improve our campus in which a beautiful job was done
along with Bro. Jerry Shepard, chairman of Trustee board and other trustees and members to
keep our campus looking beautiful. In 1985, central air and heat was installed.

Dancyville C.M.E. was founded in 1896 by the Rev. J.
B. Collier. It is located near the town of Dancyville, TN. It is a frame church with a
seating capacity of 300, has one Study Room. New improvements have been made, new pews
added, new furniture and electric lights. The Charter Members of the church are Brother
David Archbell Sr., Charlie Hunter, Edmon Mabon, Anderson Shelton, Lizzie Shelton.

Our church has the following organizations: Stewards
Boards One and Two, Stewardess Boards One and Two, Senior and Junior Choirs, Usher Boards,
Sunday School, Epworth League, Missionary Society. All of the organizations are assigned
to the general routine of the program of the church and are doing same.

The present membership of the church is 125. The
pastor is Rev. E. W. Shelby who is married and has three children. Rev. Shelby has
pastured the present congregation for eight years.

WE TRULY APPRECIATE THE
DANCYVILLE C.M.E. CHURCH HISTORY PROVIDED By MRS. ALVIS M. BOND.Note: Initial contact for securing this history
was with MRS. LINDA BOND

A WORD ABOUT SPELLING: IT IS
NOT UNCOMMON TO FIND DIFFERENT SPELLING, FOR GIVEN AND SURNAMES IN DOCUMENTS, ESPECIALLY
OLD RECORDS. RESEARCHERS WILL NEED TO TAKE THIS INTO ACCOUNT WHEN COMPARING AND
ATTEMPTING TO RECONCILE RECORDS. ed.

THIS DOCUMENT TRANSCRIBED AND
FORMATTED by MARY KAY DANCY SMITH.

GO HEREFOR THE INDEX, OF THE GRAVES, IN
THE DANCYVILLE C.M.E. CHURCH CEMETERY